Downtown Juneau in Juneau Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Five Finger
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 3, 2021
1. Five Finger Marker
Southeast Five Finger was the first name given this lighthouse site due to its location on the southeastern-most island of the Five Finger Islands group. The original, wood boathouse and carpenter shop remain.
A keeper thawing frozen water pipes with a blowtorch set fire to the lighthouse in 1933. When another keeper ran into the smoke-filled building to save the large, leather-bound visitor log, he escaped with his life and a thick book that turned out to be the Sears Roebuck catalog. Ironically, the National Archives later erroneously burned all Alaska lighthouse visitor logs.
Five Finger's second lighthouse now stands on a higher, more central part of the island. The two-story, reinforced concrete building housed all equipment and three keepers. Five Finger was the last Alaska lighthouse to be automated, in 1984.
The original, fourth order Fresnel lens was destroyed in the 1933 fire. The site is owned by the Juneau Lighthouse Association.
At-a-glance box
• Location: Frederick Sound, 37 miles northwest of Petersburg
• First lighted: March 1, 1902
• Original Optics: fourth-order Fresnel lens
• Automated: 1984
Captions
(Top) Five Finger Lighthouse in 1988. (US Coast Guard Photo)
(Bottom) Original Southeast Five Finger
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Disasters • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Believe It or Not, and the Lighthouses series lists. A significant historical date for this entry is March 1, 1902.
Location. 58° 17.913′ N, 134° 24.325′ W. Marker is in Juneau, Alaska, in Juneau Borough. It is in Downtown Juneau. Marker can be reached from Marine Way. Marker is on the Juneau Harbor boardwalk, south of Marine Park and across from the cruise ship berths. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 252 Marine Way, Juneau AK 99801, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Sentinel Island (here, next to this marker); Mary Island (here, next to this marker); Cape Decision (here, next to this marker); Tree Point (here, next to this marker); Lighthouses of Alaska (here, next to this marker); Guard Islands (here, next to this marker); Patsy Ann: her statue (here, next to this marker); Point Retreat (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Juneau.
Regarding Five Finger. The Juneau Lighthouse Association reorganized into the Five Finger Lighthouse Society and moved its operations from Juneau to Petersburg in 2020.
Also see . . .
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 3, 2021
2. Five Finger Marker
1. Five Finger Islands Lighthouse. Lighthouse Friends website entry:
Details of the lighthouse, its history and its keepers — including the two who unwisely tried to thaw frozen waters pipes with a blowtorch (Submitted on September 12, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
2. Five Finger Lighthouse. Homepage of the Five Finger Lighthouse Society, which owns and hopes to restore the lighthouse. (Submitted on September 12, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
via NPS, unknown
3. Five Finger Light Station
National Register of Historic Places: Digital Archive on NPGallery website entry
Click for more information.
Click for more information.
United States Coast Guard
4. Five Finger Lighthouse (current)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 13, 2021. It was originally submitted on September 12, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 201 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 12, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 3. submitted on September 13, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 4. submitted on September 12, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
